Sumlin: Time to eliminate the ‘pretenders’

COLLEGE STATION – When Kevin Sumlin walked off the practice field mad at some of the players on his team on Thursday evening, and when he walked into Hagner Auditorium still mad at how practice had gone because of a handful of players, his demeanor reminded me of a fellow who used to roam the sidelines around here about five years ago.

One Billy Gillispie, the most beloved coach I’ve been around at A&M in about 15 years on the beat. The styles are pretty similar, and both appear to use quite a bit of tough love in dealing with their players (basketball’s Gillispie, of course, left for Kentucky five years ago and is now at Texas Tech).

“We’ve got some guys who are coming to the forefront, physical guys who like to play,” Sumlin said Thursday night. “And we’ve had some guys who are pretenders. That are not very tough. We’ve got to figure out a way to over the next couple of weeks develop some mental and physical toughness.

“Some of the guys who talk about playing and want to play and want to do things get out there, and when we start hitting, they disappear. We’ve got to eliminate those guys. So that’s what this time is about right now.”

As for how exactly he determines the pretenders:

“It’s not the whole team, but we’ve got some guys who would rather talk than play football,” he said. “And when it gets tough, they disappear. We need to develop and keep developing physical and mental toughness, and that will be goal No. 1 over the next couple of weeks.”

Gillispie was tough and all of that stuff, but what made him beloved in Aggieland was winning, pure and simple. Sumlin has taken over a program that is .500 over the past decade, and one moving into the rugged Southeastern Conference this summer. So, like Gillispie, who took over the worst program in the Big 12 and made it a winner, Sumlin has his work cut out for him over the next couple of years (and next couple of weeks).

The Aggies next take the field on Monday, after Sumlin has given them off Easter weekend. Remember that on April 14 (a Saturday) Sumlin is having an open scrimmage at 11 a.m. at Kyle Field, followed by the Aggie Youth Experience at 1 p.m. on Kyle.